Following surgical procedures and for purposes of tissue repair, body openings formed by incision, tearing or cutting may be efficiently closed by securing the body tissue in intimate assembly. One method of skin closure is typically accomplished by suturing, where a curved needle with a thread-like suture attached through an eyelet thereof may be passed through the skin and may be secured by means of a surgical knot. Typically, a number of closely spaced sutures are required to accomplish efficient closure of a surgical incision.
Another method for accomplishing closure of a surgical incision or wound is to bring opposed skin portions into intimate assembly and then secure the same by means of surgical staples. Suitable stapling apparatus, typically referred to as a staple gun, is typically utilized to deform the staples in assembly with the skin tissue of the patient so that the staples function to maintain the opposed skin tissue in abutment to promote efficient healing.
One of the problems with application of staples to secure skin portions in assembly is the difficulty of maintaining opposed skin portions in abutting but non-overlapped relation. When the staples are deformed during installation, opposed skin tissues can easily become overlapped. The obvious result is improper healing and development of a surgical scar of undesirable configuration.
Through the use of sutures, the skin of the patient can be easily brought into proper abutting relation to ensure efficient healing. One of the problems with suturing, however, is that it is a time consuming procedure, thereby typically requiring the surgeon, the surgeon's staff and the and patient to spend more time under anesthesia in the operating theatre than is desired for efficient utilization of the operatory. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a means for accomplishing efficient and quick closure of the patient following completion of the surgical procedure to thereby minimize the time requirements for completion of the surgical procedure. It is also desirable to provide a system for accomplishing efficient closure of the patient and yet which also ensures that the skin of the patient is brought into intimate, non-overlapping, properly abutting relation through the use of stapling apparatus.
During a surgical procedure a surgical drape is employed to cover the surgical area and defines a slit or opening through which the surgery proceeds. The entire drape is typically provided with an adhesive backing and is applied to the surgical area prior to surgery. The main purpose of this to prevent infection. During surgery, blood can cause the edge of the drape to dissect from the incision site. Once this happens it is easy for infection to develop. This defeats the purpose of the drape for the drape is utilized to eliminate or minimize contamination of the incision that might cause infection. It is desirable therefore to provide means for positively securing a surgical drape to the body of the patient, thus exposing the site of the incision and preventing it from peeling off or otherwise becoming misaligned as the surgical procedure is being conducted.